Over the last decade, the Premier League has been characterized by talk about the big four and the gulf in resources they have to attract the best talent available. However, since the last season, Manchester City’s financial muscle has dwarfed that of the traditional big four while lesser weights have apparently been motivated to have more fight by the new financial reward structure of the league. This has yielded unpredictability and performances of courage to keep fans on the edges of their seats for the full 90 minutes game after game.
If we needed any reminding that a gulf in financial resources still remains, Man City were on hand to demonstrate during the Manchester derby with a time wasting substitution to bring on £25 million Adebayor during injury time. Amazingly though, cash strapped Bolton who have recently been contemplating selling some of their best players to stay afloat are currently breathing down Man City’s neck in the battle for fourth place.
This season the league has been served with a breath of fresh air courage by especially some of the younger managers at teams like Bolton, Blackpool, West Bromwich and Sunderland. This has yielded them some unexpected results, often referred to as bonus points against the traditional heavy weights.
Mancini on the other hand despite the embarrassing wealth of attacking talent at his disposal is very cautious often preferring to play with two holding midfielders. Given that he has spent over £135 million on new players with in his less than one year tenure, Mancini’s hand has probably been forced by the pressure to meet minimum goals. Hopefully today’s efficient display at Fulham will liberate him for a more adventurous approach against heavier weights or else brave Tottenham will be on hand to snatch that fourth place again and Mancini’s Man City job will be history.
For all the ruthlessness demonstrated by title favorites Chelsea at the beginning of the season, it is now starting to increasingly appear that heart is not shared by all their sergeants. Terry, Essien, Lampard and Drogba are the crop that never seems to accept defeat but in their absence the rest seem to be simply folding. It is acknowledged that together with Man City, Chelsea boasts the deepest squad in the league but with already four losses registered for the season, they could do with more heart in the rest of their ranks.
Strangely, it looks like the time for teams to summon all their courage is when they have a 2:0 lead, a score line that seems to consistently inspire the loosing opposition. Everton and West Bromwich demonstrated against Man United who in turn did the same to Aston Villa that until that final whistle is blown, 2:0 is a very fragile lead. A cruising Arsenal was punished even more severely than Man United and Aston Villa when from a position of a 2:0 lead they ended the game empty handed against bitter rivals Tottenham.
Events at Portsmouth last season are still so freshly engraved in our minds for us to naively ignore the importance of money. The right combination of money and courage will be critical for especially the teams that are looking to do more than just survive in the English top division. That more teams have demonstrated heart to fight in every game has made it harder to predict matches and relegation candidates. With the exception of West Ham, all 19 teams in the league look like they are not about to easily relinquish their place in the top flight. I will need to summon all the courage I can to make predictions for the relegation candidates in my next column.
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Monday, November 1, 2010
Rooney Saga Creates Big Winners
In a variety of sports, athletes are motivated by ambition for medals, to be the best and maximize their financial return in a career that is arguably shorter than any other. With numerous headlines about different sportsmen moving on in pursuit of personal aspirations, you may wonder why Rooney’s threatened departure from Manchester United was greeted with extra fuss.
Wayne Rooney is simply England’s highest profile footballer and Manchester United has dominated the game for the last couple of decades. It is also known, United do not lose a player they want to keep! At least until they were persuaded by Real Madrid’s £80 million and the player’s pleas to accept the loss of Christiano Ronaldo last season. United now run the risk of losing Wayne Rooney who was reportedly worth at least £50million for a meager £5million! A FIFA technicality allows players to buy themselves out in the last year of their contract for the value of their annual wage.
The saga began when after the England game against Montenegro; Rooney contradicted his manager’s claims that he had missed the last couple of games with an ankle injury. In typical “my kraal is too small to hold two bulls” style, no one defies Sir Alex in his Manchester United empire and survives. The list of victims notably includes Roy Keane who like Rooney questioned the quality and application of his team mates, van Nistelrooy who challenged the boss’ decision to bench him and David Beckham who continued to attract pop star attention with his involvement in fashion.
Contrary to the fiery Scott act that we have come to be accustomed to, Ferguson surprised the football world when in a press conference before a Champions League game he confirmed Rooney’s desire to leave United in a close to tears performance. Why was Ferguson compromising an image of firmness that had brought him so much success over the years? Whether this was calculated or he was overwhelmed by emotion, Sir Alex succeeded in winning the battle for hearts.
Since Roy Keane’s departure, Ferguson had finally found in Rooney the embodiment of himself on the field and was not about to let go so easily. While Rooney does not wear the captain’s arm band, he typifies Ferguson’s unrelenting drive for success. Like Ferguson, Rooney demonstrates with his work ethic that he is in the game because it is his life and not for the money.
While Ferguson was winning the hearts, Rooney in his response through his agent, Paul Stretford, succeeded in reminding many United fans that their beloved club was now suffocating under the Glazers’ debt burden. Most United fans recognized that Rooney chose to leave his beloved Everton for United in the first place because he believed in United’s ability to consistently succeed. That Rooney now had doubts about United’s ambition was great reason for the fans to question the club’s future. Their local rivals, Manchester City were now competing at the top end of the transfer market while United had stooped to seeking bargain buys like Bebe from the third tier of Portuguese football.
Irrespective of Paul Stretford’s game plan, he must have been surprised at the reaction of the United fans. Rather than vent at the owners’ stingy transfer policy, the fans attacked Rooney’s home and angrily warned him against joining their local rivals or he would die.
Although listening to Ferguson’s complaints about the role of agents in destabilizing players sounds hollow, I agree with him that Paul Stretford caused the saga in a bid to maximize his personal paycheck. Ironically though, Stretford would for his selfish reasons yet again work to Ferguson’s gain. After all Rooney and Ferguson have a common hunger for success and the Glazers’ arm would be forced into purchasing some real quality footballers.
As the saga continued to unfold, the biggest concern was about United’s dressing room. Rooney had implicitly expressed a lack of confidence about the quality of his team mates and he was to return on a significantly higher check!
Ferguson will be pleased that the players have responded by winning all the games in which they have featured since the landmark interviews. They have also demonstrated a tremendous team spirit as they consistently fight for each other. The key question is whether they will feel Rooney is truly part of this team having questioned their quality and then evidently being treated with extreme favoritism. Their biggest gain though will be the fact that the Glazers may not allow contracts of any key players to run so close to expiration and they too may demand significantly bigger checks now that United’s pay structure has been broken.
The United fans were relieved to keep the big star that had almost single handedly fired United to glory during the previous season. While Sir Alex has shown time and again great ability to compensate for lost players, United would definitely be better off with Rooney in their ranks. Better still, Rooney will have the added incentive to win over the fans and his team mates after the implications of the remarks his agent made on his behalf.
The Glazer’s too despite having been pushed into agreeing to terms will be pleased to have avoided losing their prized asset for close to nothing. Having tied Rooney to five more years they can now make a rational decision on whether he is too big for the club or if they can sustain the club’s success despite their financial plight.
The Glazers may be kicking themselves for having yielded to Rooney’s demands so easily when they realize that he was truly not in as strong a bargaining position as they may have thought. Only a couple of clubs would truly afford to pay Rooney the kind of money he was seeking. Real Madrid would be the best alternative to United given that in Mourinho they are almost guaranteed success. With the kind of record English players have established playing overseas, Rooney would probably have been thinking that he was not guaranteed to be a hit in Madrid. I would be hard pressed to think Man City truly crossed Rooney’s mind given that he is apparently more motivated by success than money.
As long as they can keep Ferguson motivated, the Glazers will trust his ability to continue keeping United at the very least competitive with or without Rooney. After all he has unearthed a new hero in a truly grateful Chicarito and he was able to compensate for the loss of Ronaldo and Tevez in the last season. But keeping Rooney may well be the best way to motivate Ferguson given that he is not in the football business for the money. Then of course after the loss of Ronaldo and Tevez in the last season, there would be genuine concern about United’s ambition and ability to attract top quality talent if they lost arguably their last truly high profile player in his prime.
Wayne Rooney is simply England’s highest profile footballer and Manchester United has dominated the game for the last couple of decades. It is also known, United do not lose a player they want to keep! At least until they were persuaded by Real Madrid’s £80 million and the player’s pleas to accept the loss of Christiano Ronaldo last season. United now run the risk of losing Wayne Rooney who was reportedly worth at least £50million for a meager £5million! A FIFA technicality allows players to buy themselves out in the last year of their contract for the value of their annual wage.
The saga began when after the England game against Montenegro; Rooney contradicted his manager’s claims that he had missed the last couple of games with an ankle injury. In typical “my kraal is too small to hold two bulls” style, no one defies Sir Alex in his Manchester United empire and survives. The list of victims notably includes Roy Keane who like Rooney questioned the quality and application of his team mates, van Nistelrooy who challenged the boss’ decision to bench him and David Beckham who continued to attract pop star attention with his involvement in fashion.
Contrary to the fiery Scott act that we have come to be accustomed to, Ferguson surprised the football world when in a press conference before a Champions League game he confirmed Rooney’s desire to leave United in a close to tears performance. Why was Ferguson compromising an image of firmness that had brought him so much success over the years? Whether this was calculated or he was overwhelmed by emotion, Sir Alex succeeded in winning the battle for hearts.
Since Roy Keane’s departure, Ferguson had finally found in Rooney the embodiment of himself on the field and was not about to let go so easily. While Rooney does not wear the captain’s arm band, he typifies Ferguson’s unrelenting drive for success. Like Ferguson, Rooney demonstrates with his work ethic that he is in the game because it is his life and not for the money.
While Ferguson was winning the hearts, Rooney in his response through his agent, Paul Stretford, succeeded in reminding many United fans that their beloved club was now suffocating under the Glazers’ debt burden. Most United fans recognized that Rooney chose to leave his beloved Everton for United in the first place because he believed in United’s ability to consistently succeed. That Rooney now had doubts about United’s ambition was great reason for the fans to question the club’s future. Their local rivals, Manchester City were now competing at the top end of the transfer market while United had stooped to seeking bargain buys like Bebe from the third tier of Portuguese football.
Irrespective of Paul Stretford’s game plan, he must have been surprised at the reaction of the United fans. Rather than vent at the owners’ stingy transfer policy, the fans attacked Rooney’s home and angrily warned him against joining their local rivals or he would die.
Although listening to Ferguson’s complaints about the role of agents in destabilizing players sounds hollow, I agree with him that Paul Stretford caused the saga in a bid to maximize his personal paycheck. Ironically though, Stretford would for his selfish reasons yet again work to Ferguson’s gain. After all Rooney and Ferguson have a common hunger for success and the Glazers’ arm would be forced into purchasing some real quality footballers.
As the saga continued to unfold, the biggest concern was about United’s dressing room. Rooney had implicitly expressed a lack of confidence about the quality of his team mates and he was to return on a significantly higher check!
Ferguson will be pleased that the players have responded by winning all the games in which they have featured since the landmark interviews. They have also demonstrated a tremendous team spirit as they consistently fight for each other. The key question is whether they will feel Rooney is truly part of this team having questioned their quality and then evidently being treated with extreme favoritism. Their biggest gain though will be the fact that the Glazers may not allow contracts of any key players to run so close to expiration and they too may demand significantly bigger checks now that United’s pay structure has been broken.
The United fans were relieved to keep the big star that had almost single handedly fired United to glory during the previous season. While Sir Alex has shown time and again great ability to compensate for lost players, United would definitely be better off with Rooney in their ranks. Better still, Rooney will have the added incentive to win over the fans and his team mates after the implications of the remarks his agent made on his behalf.
The Glazer’s too despite having been pushed into agreeing to terms will be pleased to have avoided losing their prized asset for close to nothing. Having tied Rooney to five more years they can now make a rational decision on whether he is too big for the club or if they can sustain the club’s success despite their financial plight.
The Glazers may be kicking themselves for having yielded to Rooney’s demands so easily when they realize that he was truly not in as strong a bargaining position as they may have thought. Only a couple of clubs would truly afford to pay Rooney the kind of money he was seeking. Real Madrid would be the best alternative to United given that in Mourinho they are almost guaranteed success. With the kind of record English players have established playing overseas, Rooney would probably have been thinking that he was not guaranteed to be a hit in Madrid. I would be hard pressed to think Man City truly crossed Rooney’s mind given that he is apparently more motivated by success than money.
As long as they can keep Ferguson motivated, the Glazers will trust his ability to continue keeping United at the very least competitive with or without Rooney. After all he has unearthed a new hero in a truly grateful Chicarito and he was able to compensate for the loss of Ronaldo and Tevez in the last season. But keeping Rooney may well be the best way to motivate Ferguson given that he is not in the football business for the money. Then of course after the loss of Ronaldo and Tevez in the last season, there would be genuine concern about United’s ambition and ability to attract top quality talent if they lost arguably their last truly high profile player in his prime.
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